Modification to the Table of Permitted Nutrient Content Statements and Claims (protein claims and “no added fat”)

Notice of modification – Nutrition Labelling — Table of Permitted Nutrient Content Statements and Claims
Reference number: M-ANC-RM-1
December 18, 2024

Background

The document, Nutrition Labelling — Table of Permitted Nutrient Content Statements and Claims (henceforth referred to as the "Table") sets out the conditions for making nutrient content statements and claims that are permitted on foods for sale in Canada. Nutrient content statements and claims describe the level of a nutrient or energy in foods. The Table includes references to food compositional standards and methods of analysis.

The Table was incorporated by reference in the Food and Drug Regulations (FDR) on July 20, 2022 (SOR/2022-168) in order to allow for timely and efficient updates in response to new scientific data. Previously, this information was prescribed in a table following section B.01.513 of the FDR.

In Budget 2018, the Government of Canada announced a regulatory reform agenda focussed on removing barriers to innovation and growth in key sectors, including the agri-food and aquaculture sector. A targeted review of the sector, including public consultations, was completed in 2018, culminating in the publication of the Agri-Food and Aquaculture Sector Regulatory Review Roadmap (the Roadmap) in June 2019. As part of the Roadmap, Health Canada committed to incrementally redesigning the food regulations.

As part of this commitment, on November 4, 2023, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) pre-published the proposed Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Concerning Food Additives and Compositional Standards, Microbiological Criteria and Methods of Analysis for Food in Part I of the Canada Gazette. This included proposed changes to the regulatory frameworks for food compositional standards and for setting and updating methods of analysis.

Issue

Amendments are required to certain sections of the Table to align with amendments made to the frameworks for official methods and food compositional standards through the Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Concerning Food Additives and Compositional Standards, Microbiological Criteria and Methods of Analysis for Food which was published in Part II of the Canada Gazette on December 18, 2024.

Specifically, the Table references the following official method and food compositional standards, requiring modification:

1. the minimum protein ratings as determined by Official method FO-1, Determination of Protein Rating, October 15, 1981 (FO-1), as conditions for foods to qualify to display "source of protein", "excellent source of protein", and "more protein" claims; and
2. foods in Division 9 of Part B of the FDR in the conditions to qualify to use a "no added fat" claim.

Consultation

On November 4, 2023, Health Canada and the CFIA pre-published the Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Concerning Food Additives and Compositional Standards, Microbiological Criteria and Methods of Analysis for Food in Part I of the Canada Gazette, which proposed a number of amendments, including:

1. repealing from the FDR the statically incorporated by reference official method for measuring protein quality and the associated minimum protein quality values. This information would be incorporated by reference into the FDR in a new Table of Chemical, Physical and Nutritional Characteristics of Food document which can be amended from time to time; and
2. repealing from the FDR the food compositional standards and incorporating them by reference into the FDR in a new Canadian Food Compositional Standards document, which can be amended from time to time. This would result in the fats and oils standards located in Division 9 being transferred to Volume 8 of the Canadian Food Compositional Standards.

In light of the proposed FDR amendments above, it was necessary to also propose modifications to the Table because it included references to an official method and food compositional standards. Therefore, on November 4, 2023, Health Canada also published a Notice of proposal to update the Nutrition Labelling: Table of permitted nutrient content statements and claims (NOP), in which the department proposed to modify the conditions for foods to qualify to display "source of protein", "excellent source of protein", and "more protein" claims, and the conditions to qualify to use a "no added fat" claim, to reflect and align with the proposed modernized structure and language of the FDR. The 90-day consultation ended on February 2, 2024.

Summary of comment received and Health Canada responses

Please note: this section only includes comments that were provided specifically in response to the NOP linked above, pertaining to the proposed modifications to the Table, in order to reflect the proposed amendments to the FDR. Comments received in response to the proposed FDR amendments are addressed in the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement.

Health Canada received six submissions during the consultation period. Three industry associations commented that they had no concerns with and/or supported the proposed modifications to the Table.

The other comments were deemed out of scope of the NOP consultation because they did not provide any input specific to the Table or its proposed modifications:

• A group of industry associations jointly commented on the importance of protein quality, and made reference to Canada's Food Guide and its encouragement for Canadians to replace some meat or poultry with plant-based protein foods.
• One consumer commented on restricting the use of documents incorporated by reference to technical aspects only, and ensuring transparency and upholding public interest with respect to the relationship between regulators and regulated parties.
• Three industry associations commented on the FDR amendments, which are addressed through the Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement.

Rationale

In light of the general support from stakeholders for the proposed amendments in the FDR, and consequentially, for the proposed modifications to the Table, the latter have been implemented. The modifications to the Table will help ensure it accurately reflects the structure and language in the regulations pertaining to protein quality and associated methods, and the location of compositional standards for fats and oils. These modifications do not change the previous conditions for using the "source of protein", "excellent source of protein", "more protein", and "no added fat" claims.

Modification to the Table of Permitted Nutrient Content Statements and Claims

Health Canada has updated column 2 of items 8, 9, and 10 ("source of protein", "excellent source of protein", and "more protein" claims, respectively) of the Table as follows:

• Removed "protein rating of X or more" and replaced it with "protein quality of not less than that set out in column 3 of the Table of Chemical, Physical and Nutritional Characteristics of Food";
• Removed "official method FO-1, Determination of Protein Rating, October 15, 1981" and replaced it with "the corresponding method set out in column 4" of that table; and
• Removed "per reasonable daily intake, or per 30 g combined with 125 mL of milk, if the food is a breakfast cereal". That information is now be found in the Table of Chemical, Physical and Nutritional Characteristics of Food.

Column 2 of item 17 ("no added fat" claim) of the Table has been updated as follows:

• Removed "Division 9" and replaced it with "Volume 8 of the Canadian Food Compositional Standards" in both subsections (1) and (2).

These modifications are presented in the Tables below.

Implementation and enforcement

The above modifications came into force December 18, 2024, the day they were published in the document Nutrition labelling – Table of Permitted Nutrient Content Statements and Claims, which aligns with the publication date and coming into force of the Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Concerning Food Additives and Compositional Standards, Microbiological Criteria, and Methods of Analysis in Food. Given that the modifications to the Table do not have labelling implications, no transition period is required to implement them.

The CFIA is responsible for the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act and its associated regulations with respect to foods.

Contact information

Health Canada's Food and Nutrition Directorate is committed to reviewing new information relating to this Notice. Anyone wishing to submit an inquiry or new scientific information may do so in writing, by regular mail or e-mail. If you wish to contact the Food and Nutrition Directorate by e-mail, please use the words "Table of NCC (M-ANC-RM-1)" in the subject line of your e-mail.

Bureau of Nutritional Sciences
Food and Nutrition Directorate
251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway
Postal locator 2203E
Tunney's Pasture
Ottawa ON K1A 0K9
E-mail: bns-bsn@hc-sc.gc.ca